Lawn-mower.



J. CHAPPLE.

LAWN MOWBR. l APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, 1912.

Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

'2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

l1/wanton y amv J. CHAPPLE.

LAWN MOWER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, 1912.

Patented Apr. 15,1913.

Y 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 shares rnrnnr ernten.

JAMES CHAPPLE, 0F CLEVELAND, OHI.

nos-ases.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ratentee apr. i5, reis.

Application med my 1, 1912. senal No. manca,

To all whom t may concern Be it known that l, JAMES CHAPPLE, a subject of Great Britain, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lawn-Mowers: and l do declare the following to be a full', fclear,

and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others Skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeeand use the same.

rlhis invention is a lawn mower; and its objects are to permit a tilting of the rela-l tively fixed knife or blade so lthat none` o/f the knives or blades will be nicked when the machine strikes-a stone; and to permit the removal, adjustment, and inversion of the rot-ating knives or blades, as well as the vadjustment of their angle to the cutting edge of the ixed knife. These .objects vare car; ried out by constructing the machine in the manner hereinafter more .fully described and claimed and as shown in the drawings, wherein- AFigure 1 is a plan View of this machine, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the lline 2 2 of Fig. 1 ;v Fig. 3 is a-sect-ional detail 'on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4'

1s an enlarged sectional detail through one;

of the' blade holders, giving a cross 'sectionr of the spiral blade engaged therewith.

lt lwill not be necessary to describe the construction of the handle and' frameworkI of this lawn mower, further than to say that the numeral 1 designates the housin connected by a'rod 2, ,'3, 3'are the maln wheels whereof one '(or possibly both) may; be internallytoothed as at 4 so as to meshv with external, teeth 5 on a ratchet mechanism 6 connected with one end both ends) of the main shaft 7 the cutter head. l'The housings 1 are conor perhaps which carries l tinued to the rear into'side plates 8 'between which is mounted a roller 9 as usual in lawn mowers and whose details need not be ile-3 scribed, and the I'connection of .thehandle f with thehead of this machine is not im-i portant to the present invention.

The cutter headl carrying the spiral blades i includes a number of spiders having their? hubs l11 mounted upon the mainshaft' 7 by means of set screws 12 and their radial arms 2 13 'each rovided with a round hole in its d; and in said hole tits revolubly the reduced' inner end '14of a blade holder means of .a set screw 16 so that the holder may Abe turned axially with respect to the arm 13, may be set farther outward or in ward until its shoulder 17 contacts with the outer end of the arm, or may be removed entirely. The outer end of the holder is forked, and the rear arm 18 of its fork is dished v slightly as shown at 19. The blade 20 has a substantially rectangular cross section so that four cutting corners are provided, but along its center it is enlarged as at 21 to form what' might be called ribs on both sides, either of which ribs tits .the I dished portion 19 of the rear arm 18 closely; and at suitable intervals screwsl 22 pass through these ribs along the Acenter of the blade and take into the arms 18 of the holders 15 to hold the blades therein. The

vupper hub in Fig; 2 restsiagainst acollar spiral disposition 'of `the several blades 20 -can 'be increased .or decreased, while yet re` taining the cylindrical contour of the.. cutter head as'a whole, and it will be ohvious that the cutting edges or outer forward corners off the various lolades must pass across the cuttin edge of the relatively fixed knife described below so that the moving blades will coact with the fixed blade to cut the grass.

'The numeral 30 designates bolts passing through the side-plates 8 and having shoulders 31 under their heads 32, and on the shoulder. of each bolt inside said plate is pivotal'ly mounted the eye 33 of a rocker arm 34, which lextends along within the side plate, and the two arms being connected aft 7 whereas the lower by a transverse bar 35 which is recessed on v tend upward into the bar'35 and hold the 15 which is rendered. adjustable thereinbyblade thereto. l Thisblade has four cutting corners or edges, `and it can be reversed and `inverted like the other blades; and in fact it may be possible to make it in duplicate with the other blades, although I have shown it as somewhat wider and its enlarged portion as rectangular instead of rounded. The forward end of` each rocker arm 34 has a nose 40 upon which bears a set screw .41 that is passed downward through a lug 42 cast within the side plate 8, and a jam nut 43 holds this screw from movement. 'Ihe obviouspurpose of this screw is to prevent the nose of the rocker arm from rislng too far, and therefore tov prevent the bar 'from turning to the rear so far that the cutting corner of the blade 38 will be struck by the cutting corner of 4 the rotating blades 20. The rear end of each rocker arm 34"'has a heel 44 from which rises a stud 45, and 46 is a coiled expansive spring whose lower end rests 'upon the heel around said stud while its upper end surrounds a similar stud 47;

depending from a washer 48; and the latter is borne downward by a screw 49 which is threaded through alug 50 castJ upon the innerside. of the plate' 8, the screw preferablyha-ving a thumbv piece 51 atits upper end.:j The obvious purpose of this detail of construction is to permit the adjustment :of thevzjscrewby turning the thumb piece, and

a-stone orother obstruction, it is carried ltostheurear Vunder the rotating blades 20,-; and asfitstrikes the front edge of the blade' 3 8kthej1atter is permitted to tip downwardf Y 4()r aslthe spring 46 compresses-thereby preventing."` the possibility that such foreign f substancewill breakor\nick either of the' cutting blades. By enlarging the center of; the relatively fixed blade 38 this also can.-

be-reversed or inverted so that its four cut- -ting edges can be successively brought into action, andv it will be .a long time before it will'need grinding.-

elaborated ,in this specification.

I reservethe rigllit tomake changes in de- .tails as come wit `teria'svof parts are not essential.

What'is claimed as new is Ina lawn mower, the combination with a. cutting blade substantially rectangular inv cross section and having-cutting faces at its four corners, its body being provided on both sideswith longitudinal ribs along its 'transverse cent-er; of asupporting member for said lblade whose face is dished to 4correspond with the contour of one ofsaid ribs,

'and a screw passing through the balade where j it is .ribbed and taking into said member, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a rotary cutter head for machines of the class described, the combination with a main shaft having a collar at one end and a thread' at the other, a series of arms having hubs mounted on said shaft, one of the hubs resting against said collar and another vbeing internally threaded to engage said thread, the outer ends of said arms having axial holes, and means for fastening the hubs on the shafts after they have been set; of blade holders adjustably mounted in said holes, and resilient blades carried by the holders. j

3. In a rotary cutter head for machines of the class described, the combination with a main shaft having a collar at one end and a thread at the other, a series of arms having hubs mounted on said shaft, one of the hubs resting against said collar and another being internally threaded to engage said thread, the outer ends of said arms having ax'ial holes, vand means for fastening the hubs on the shafts after they have been set; of resilient blades, blade holders each forked at its outer end and attached to a blade and having its inner end shouldered and the reduced portion entering the holein one of said arms, and a set screw through the latter against said reduced portion, for the purpose set forth. l

4. In a cutter head for machines of the class described, the combination with a main shaft, hubs mounted thereon and each having a series of arms, means for moving one hub longitudinally of the shaft, and set screws through the other hubs against th'e shaft, the outer end of each arm having an axial hole; of blade holders adjust-ablyV .mounted in said holes, and resilient blades carried by the holders.

5. In a cutter head for machines of the classdescribed, th'e combination with a main shaft, a series of arms 4having lhubs mounted thereon, and set screws through the hubs against the shaft, the outer end of each arm having an axial hole; of resilient The action of the roller 9 is well known,-

and the uses of lawn mowers need not bey blades, blade holders each forked at its outer end and attached to ablade and having its inner end shouldered vand the reduced portion entering the hole in one of said arms,

and a set screw through the latter. against said reduced portion, forth.

6. In .a cutter hea-d for machines of the class described, the combination with a main for the purpose set shaft, and a series of arms adiustably mounted at their inner ends on said shaft and having holes in their outer ends; of blade holders 'each forked at its outer end with .the rearmost fork arm projected beyond the other and dished, and each having its inner end seated in one of said holes, a

set screw through the arm against said inner end, and a series of resilient blades each of substantially rectangular cross section with ribs onxboth sides along its transverse center, its inner'edge resting in the throat of the fork, dne of its ribs in said dished arm,

and its outer edge projecting beyond this arm, for the purpose set forth.

In testimon v whereof I have hereunto set my hand in p /esence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JAMES CHAPPLE. Witnesses:

THOMAS MANN, H. J. TERRY. 

